Advice for Potential Buyer Please

[billblack]

I value your experienced input and advice, so thanks in advance. Bear with me.

I’m getting ready to put my 87 Nissan 4X4, v6 out to pasture. The truck gets used for transportation, light firewood duty (we heat with wood), and towing a 12 foot Al boat. It’s a great simple truck, but it is just rusted away into the danger zone. Not very powerful, but geared low enough that it will move o.k. with a light trailer. I’m not the kind of person who cares if he can’t go over 50 going up a hill with a little trailer on. I just drive accordingly.

I have about 5 k to spend. I like old vehicles (my car is a 69 Sport satellite with a 4 speed and 383). I’m a decent mechanic by hobby.

I could go buy a decent mid 90’s chevy/gmc 4wd truck with 100K or so for 5K no problem,…….or I could get into the vintage trucks. I can’t afford a used Jap truck, I want decent 14+ fuel economy.

I am thinking of late sixties, early 70s c10 or c20 truck with a straight six, 4wd, and a four speed. I don’t want a modified, v-8, 2wd type truck: I want the old-school, steel wheel, bare bones truck….know what I mean?

Given what I use the truck for, Is such a truck practical as a daily driver truck?

What is the mpg of such a combo?

Can you cruise at 65 mph (what gears req’d)?

I assume PS and PB are recommended to make life easy, yes?

Anything else I should look for or stay away from given what I want?

What is the price range for a driver quality, min. rust, "everything works" truck? Originality and rarity not important.

I have no personal knowledge of these trucks, I just like the way they look and I’m wondering if one could fit the bill for me as a practical, simple, 4wd pick up that wouldn't kill me on gas and be practical to drive on a regular basis

I appreciate your answers to the above questions and any advice would give as far as what I should look for/require given that I will be using the truck on a daily basis.

Regards,

Bill

[OLDCHEV4X4]

Welcome to the board from Coatesville!
I drove a 6 cyl 2 wheel drive truck for a long time as a daily driver and i have to say i wouldn't do it again. As you know there is a lot of traffic around here and keeping up with traffic ate up a lot of gas. Getting out into traffic was sometimes tuff if it required a lot of acceleration. I would imagine this would be even tuffer with a 4x4 6cyl truck. A original 6 cyl 4x4 would probley have 4:11 gears. My 2wheel drive 6 cyl came stock with 3:73 gears. If i kept my foot out of it and my speed down i could get around 14 mpg. But in rush hour traffic that wasn't easy to do. As far as towing and hauling a load of fire wood.. no problem. Even in a half ton. PS and PB can be added if you find one that you like and it dosent have it. Hope this helps a little.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Rust free 67-72's are not easy to come by in PA, and one's that do come with a high price tag. If you look you should be able to find a decent 4x4 for 4 or 5K but you may have to drive a ways to get it.

I use my 67 as my daily driver. It has a 350 and 700R4 (overdrive) transmission and the best fuel mileage I've gotten was 13 city (lots of stop, sit, and go) and 15 highway going 75 mph.

A lot depends on how much you want to spend on fuel, if you want to restore it, add a/c, pdb and ps, etc... if you drive 12 miles a day or 50..... and they're always risks. I got rear ended about 2 weeks ago and had to replace the rear bumper.

It's not practical, but I enjoy it, so I drive it a lot.

[LockDoc]

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Bill,

Too bad you are so far away. I posted this a few months ago but it sounds like just what you want.... I talked to the guy a couple of days ago and he said he still had it.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...hlight=lockdoc

LockDoc

[billblack]

That truck looks great. If it was 4wd and reasonably local I'd be there to check it out.

Although, with those 4.11 gears I doubt I'd be cruising near my 65 mph goal.

Check out this truck on ebay, item number: 280104907159 That's the one I stumbled on and that's the one that peeked my curiousity for getting something vintage to replace my Nissan with.

What do you think that truck sold for? I asked the owner, he wouldn't say. He also wouldn't answer any questions about it. (Dick).

Regards,

Bill

[LockDoc]

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Really hard to tell on that one. I think the condition of the seat belies the 23,000 mile claim. I have one with a lot more miles than that and the original seat is in much better shape. Maybe the person that drove it carried wrenches or screwdrivers in his back pocket a lot.....

LockDoc

[Longhorn Man]

I would look out west, give yourself a $3500 cap for truck price, $1200 for shipping, and that'll leave you $300 for the BS that PA will make you do to make it pass inspection. You will be WAY ahead by getting something with a good body, esp with how bad your inspections are.
An inline is fine, but, frequently the MPG is worse than a 307 small block.
Power steering and brakes are nice... but, not really needed.
A 4.10 geared truck can cruise 65 MPH all day long... but, it's runnin about 3000 RPM and drinking fuel. Most of these trucks get about 10 - 12 MPG... I was rather excited to discover I was getting 12.5 MPG on mine.